Fans have shown they can handle NHL lockout

Of all the things weighing on sports fans' minds this day after Christmas, I assume the ongoing National Hockey League labor crisis is not one of them — at least not in these parts.

While football fans turn their attention to the bowl games involving Clemson, South Carolina and Georgia, the fact that NHL games have been canceled through Jan. 14 is met with shrugs (if met with any reaction at all).

But there are a handful of us in nontraditional hockey areas who enjoy the stick and puck sport. We miss the fact that the best hockey players in the world are either not playing at all or playing outside the NHL.

We know that unless the lockout is settled ASAP (the players' union and owners are set to meet either today or Thursday), yet another season will be lost. And even if an 11th hour deal is struck, will there be enough of a season left to even matter?

As with all pro sports labor issues the reasons are convoluted and mostly lost on regular folks, who can't understand squabbling between billionaires and millionaires and don't care to. But sports fans have already proven they can "survive" without an NHL season.

And since we can, the league needs to realize we can survive without an NHL.

The 2004-05 NHL lockout killed the entire season, marking the first time a major professional sport in North America had canceled an entire season. It was also the first time a team had not hoisted the Stanley Cup since 1919.

For renowned hockey hubs, especially cities like Montreal and Toronto, it was devastating. The NFL inspires a religious fervor in the United States but hockey rinks are houses of sports worship in Canada. The inability to strike a deal was a slap in the face to those who helped make ice hockey a national treasure in the Great White North.

But in the Lower 48 the NHL and the season that wasn't was quickly forgotten.

I'm sure supporters of the other four members of the "Original Six" — the New York Rangers, Boston Bruins, Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Blackhawks — missed the sight of red lights flashing and sound of horns and sirens blaring when their teams scored, but they weren't hurting for entertainment.

While the NHL was dormant, they had the Giants, Patriots, Lions and Bears and Knicks, Celtics, Pistons and Bulls to cheer on.

And that's one of the reasons why there seems to be so little angst among United States sports fans as the lockout drags on.

The NBA is under way so fans who can't get their sports fix on frozen ponds can get it on the hardwood.

And the NHL's overexpansion has placed franchises in cities whose citizens don't seem to care whether they have a team or not. If the Phoenix Coyotes went belly-up, I doubt many Arizonans would attend the funeral.

So the owners and players are headed back to the bargaining table. Maybe they can work out a deal that will result in a mini-season and maybe they won't.

Either way those of us who buy tickets to sporting events can and will find other sporting events to buy tickets for.

The NHL needs us a lot more than we need it.

Scott Adamson can be reached at 864-260-1237 or by email at adamsonsl@independentmail.com.